Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.

In English when you hold out something to someone, sometimes a vocal prompt like "here" or "there" is said to indicate that you are giving it to the person.

In Chinese (or at least in Singapore) we sometimes use something that sounds like "na" or even use the Chinese word "给(gěi)" as an expression while holding out something towards the recipient.

EDIT: Perhaps I should have been more specific about what I'm referring to. I'm not referring to giving "gifts", but just giving in general. Something like just passing a note to somebody or when someone looks in need of a tissue and you just hold it out to them.

(Question) What's the equivalent of this concept in Japanese? I ask because I think it feels quite awkward to either remain silent, or to form a complete sentence asking the person to receive it especially if you are familiar with the person.

I say はい、どうぞ and I'm curious to see the answers to your question.
–
Rudy the ReindeerNov 13 '11 at 13:40

1

I do not know what the tag [single-word-requests] means. Does that mean that “はい、どうぞ” is not an answer you are looking for?
–
Tsuyoshi ItoNov 13 '11 at 14:56

@TsuyoshiIto I included both "single-word" and "phrase" requests because I didn't want to limit the answer to either of them.
–
FlawNov 13 '11 at 22:24

2

Related to this - I keep wanting to say どうぞ when giving money to cashiers, but my friends tell me that is strange (because I am under obligation to do so). And I feel uncomfortable saying nothing. Might be my cultural conditioning. What is appropriate in that situation?
–
AmadanNov 15 '11 at 14:38

2

@Flaw: I wasn't meaning to nitpick - I wasn't sure whether Tsuyoshi meant "Thanks, but I already knew that", or "Thanks, I now understand". Also, I would prefer that you didn't use txt-speak when replying to me - please use "please" rather than "pls". Nothing against you - I just really dislike txt-speak.
–
Andrew GrimmNov 20 '11 at 6:49